Free The Red Roots by Andrea Johnson Beck Page A

lifeless before them.
    The guards lifted their firearms.
    Erik readied his gun. “There is a way out, and Rosa knows where. You four will leave.”
    “No way. Not without you.”
    “Not the time to argue,” Reed said.
    “Go.”
    They shuffled back into the foyer. Rosa shut and locked the door.
    Gunfire broke out beyond the fortress walls.
    The inescapable pull of gravity kept Isla next to Reed. Their time slipped thin. She ignored the tears skating down her face. She ignored the fear shuddering her frame. She ignored the echoes of death inside her chest. He had to know before all was lost into the ether. “I love you,” she mouthed to Reed.
    Isla saw a hint of a smile but it faded. Armed entities descended onto the palace by the sea. Rosa guided them to the lower level. Isla dragged Jules alongside her, pacifying her questions about Henry and what was going on around them. She hated lying but in the moment it was what she had to do.
    Two shots blasted above them. Isla jumped. Jules whimpered. Reed swore.
    “Are we close, Rosa?” He said in a raised voice.
    “Yes.”
    The dark engulfed them with each doorway they hurried through. It was a maze. Stars flickered her vision as adrenaline shrouded Isla. The final door led them to an underground cave. The only light pouring in was from an opening at the end. A humid, sticky breeze clung to Isla. She was out of breath but she pushed forward. Their feet splashed in shallow water and a briny smell wafted around them.
    Rosa pointed to the end of the hollow passageway. A boat covered in leaves and burlap swayed with the current. A sonata of gunfire sounded nearby. What had Isla done? She had endangered Jules further. Henry was dead because of her.
    They reached the boat. Reed yanked the debris from it and pushed it farther into the water. Jules shook in Isla’s arms.
    “We must go,” Rosa said.
    Reed motioned for Jules. “Give her to me, and I’ll help her in.”
    To rip her lifeline from Isla’s side didn’t sit well with her, but she told her daughter to wrap her arms around Reed’s neck. The warm water took them. Rosa climbed in first to help Jules. The boat rocked. With careful hands Reed lifted her, and when she was aboard, Isla took a steadying breath.
    Reed turned to her. “You’re next.”
    He went through the same process as with Jules but with less grace. Isla landed on her knees and reached over the edge for Reed. Regretful, he shook his head. “I’m staying.”
    “No, you’re not.”
    “I’m going to find out who this is. Maybe my father isn’t dead.”
    “Now is not the time to play hero.”
    As they argued, Reed pushed the boat far enough out that the blades of the motor wouldn’t hit the sea floor. He gripped the side of the boat and managed to slip his wedding band off.
    “Don’t you dare.”
    “I’ll come back to you.”
    Isla’s chin trembled as he bled her dry. “You promised. You said you wouldn’t hurt me.”
    “I lied.”
    She took the band and slid it down her middle finger, next to hers.
    “Mom?”
    Isla glanced at her daughter and back to Reed. He laid his hand atop of hers, which slipped a bit from the swaying. She’d remember every feature, every expression. Isla had allowed revenge to strip her from the love she deserved. It couldn’t be recaptured. If she lost him, all the families would taste her wrath. Nothing would stop her or hold her back.
    Amaranthine would burn.
    Isla would be the gasoline.
    The match.
    The spark.
    “I love you,” Reed said as he pushed the boat away from him.
    Isla tasted her tears. He drifted farther from her as Rosa yanked the engine cord. In a puff of fumes and smoke they sputtered down the marshy channel. Isla anchored her gaze onto Reed until she could no longer see him.
    Her wet hair thrashed against her. She rubbed the two wedding bands against one another.
    Reckoning would come.
    She’d kill them all.

9 Killed in Florida Mansion Fire Died of Smoke Inhalation and Thermal